pobc MAG May 2020

POOROLDBASEBALLCARDS.COM MAY 2020
MAGAZINE

pobc FIISRSSUTE

Bad
memories

of 1960
World
Series

INSIDE

Yes, you can afford 1952
a baseball card of Topps

The Babe Look
’n See

+ checklist

Catching up

Welcome to our first issue. Twelve years ago, I started ANTHONY
pooroldbaseballcards.com to catalog and show off some TARANTINO
of the fruits of my unusual baseball card collection.
Since I was a kid, I have been obsessed with baseball cards. Every POBC FOUNDER,
dollar earned doing Saturday chores was spent on wax packs from EDITOR &
the local convenience store.
ART DIRECTOR
I later graduated to vintage cards. Names like Willie Mays and
Warren Spahn and Henry Aaron had me reading about their ex- BILL
ploits. But how could a kid afford cards of those ballplayers? Simple, PINELLA
my eyes were set on poor old baseball cards: pinholes, tears, creases
and rounded corners. CONTRIBUTING
WRITER
Today, my collection has grown to include names like Honus
Wagner, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Behold my little corner of the ELISA
sports card world. ANDERSEN

ANTHONY TARANTINO COPY EDITOR

POBC FOUNDER & EDITOR VISIT US ONLINE AT

POOROLDBASEBALLCARDS.COM

CONTACT

[email protected]

2

From the blog

FIRST PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 17, 2013

Why I do what I do ...
Iwanted to go to a
baseball card show and 70s. They included er just wanted to get rid termed “junk.” Well, as
—­ a real show with Warren Spahn, Hank of the beaters. And I was the saying goes, one man’s
more than a few tables of Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Pete happy to take them off his junk is another’s treasure.
rookie and “game-used” Rose, Yogi Berra, Stan hands.
cards. I wanted to go to a Musial and Whitey Ford. He asked me why I
show where I could look There were even a dozen A few tables down, I collected the “junk.” He
through a stack of T206s or so 1952 Topps cards, asked another dealer if he wasn’t being a jerk; he re-
or 1948 Leafs or anything each trimmed down with had any poor old base- ally seemed curious as to
older than 1980. scissors. Too bad. ball cards. He seemed why I wanted those cards.
quite shocked that any-
A recent google search It seemed as if the deal- one would want what he He then turned to his
turned up the Frank & partner, who I think was
Sons Collectible Show in his dad, and said: “Show
the City of Industry near him that card.”
Los Angeles. It’s a twice-
a-week show that has The older man pulled
much more than sports out a 1954 Topps Jackie
stuff. Robinson that was truly
deserving of this blog. It
After a two-hour drive, was torn, taped, wrinkled,
I found myself at a large scraped and just plain
warehouse filled with worn out.
collectibles from Japanese
animation art to action The young man’s next
figures to comic books. words were: “It’s not for
sale.”
Oh, and there were a
few dozen dealers with Funny how the duo
baseball cards. was selling thousands of
cards behind glass with
I picked up a few pricetags, but this one
cards at the first booth card was “not for sale.”
I stopped at. I asked the Obviously, that card had
dealer for poor old base- some meaning to the old
ball cards and he pulled man.
out a stack for me to
thumb through. I even- I wanted to, but I
tually bought the whole didn’t say it: “That’s why I
stack for $70. There must collect poor old baseball
have been well over 100 cards.”
cards from the 50s, 60s
EDITOR’S NOTE: THE
ORIGINAL POSTING WAS
LIGHTLY EDITED FOR
CLARIFICATION.

3

4

Look What should I pay?
’n See
what $25
you can
afford FOR A CARD IN POOR CONDITION

It was a big year for Topps. It was
a big year for baseball cards.

In 1952, the chewing gum com-
pany released its inaugural and
most coveted baseball card set. The
Mickey Mantle alone is arguably
the hobby’s most recognizable card
and one of its most expensive.

But Topps also released a less-
er-known set that year: the Look ’n
See set of famous figures.

Babe Ruth is the only “baseball
card” in the set. Really, he’s the only
athlete. And though it may be the
most popular card of the 135-card
set, it’s not the most valuable. That
honor goes to the Dutch painter
Rembrandt. Go figure.

Rembrandt is card 82 in the set
and is in the second series. It is be-
lieved to have been single printed,
adding to its scarcity.

Poor conditioned examples of
common cards can be had for a
dollar or two but be prepared to
pay more than $20-25 for a Ruth in
lesser condition.

POBC

5

1952 Topps Look ’n See checklist

1 Franklin Roosevelt 28 Stephen Foster 55 Daniel Boone 82 Rembrandt 109 Adm. Horatio Nelson
2 Woodrow Wilson 29 Mark Twain 56 Geronimo 83 Clara Barton 110 Nero
3 Thomas Jefferson 30 Charles Lindbergh 57 Jesse James 84 Julius Caesar 111 F. Nightingale
4 Abraham Lincoln 31 Henry Ford 58 Sitting Bull 85 Chiang Kai-Shek 112 John D. Rockefeller
5 Harry Truman 32 Douglas MacArthur 59 Cochise 86 Benvenuto Cellini 113 Sir Walter Scott
6 Theodore Roosevelt 33 Oliver H. Perry 60 Wild Bill Hickok 87 Marie Curie 114 Percy Shelley
7 Ulysses S. Grant 34 Robert E. Lee 61 Sam Houston 88 Roald Amundsen 115 John Philip Sousa
8 Andrew Jackson 35 Gen. M. Ridgeway 62 Bat Masterson 89 Hans Chr. Andersen 116 Robert L. Stevenson
9 George Washington 36 Gen. C. Chennault 63 Billy The Kid 90 Benedict Arnold 117 Arturo Toscanini
10 Gen. G. W. Goethals 37 George A. Custer 64 Winston Churchill 91 Enrico Caruso 118 Amerigo Vespucci
11 Nathan Hale 38 Stephen Decatur 65 Mahatma Ghandi 92 Louis Daguerre 119 H.G. Wells
12 Francis Scott Key 39 Gen. George Patton 66 William Shakespeare 93 Adm. George Dewey 120 Wendell L. Wilkie
13 Wilbur Wright 40 Stonewall Jackson 67 Napoleon Bonaparte 94 Sir Francis Drake 121 Emile Zola
14 Jefferson Davis 41 Dwight Eisenhower 68 Isaac Newton 95 Al Smith 122 Capt. William Kidd
15 Babe Ruth 42 John Paul Jones 69 Guglielmo Marconi 96 Tecumseh 123 Sir Henry Morgan
16 Paul Revere 43 Eleanor Roosevelt 70 Samuel F.B. Morse 97 Jules Verne 124 Charles Darwin
17 Patrick Henry 44 Cleopatra 71 Thomas A. Edison 98 Adlai Stevenson 125 Charles Dickens
18 Washington Irving 45 Amelia Earhart 72 Cyrus H. McCormick 99 Lester B. Pearson 126 Leif Ericson
19 Alexander Hamilton 46 Annie Oakley 73 Robert Fulton 100 William Beaverbrook 127 Galileo
20 Albert Einstein 47 Robert E. Peary 74 Alexander G. Bell 101 Daniel De Foe 128 Genghis Khan
21 Benjamin Franklin 48 Ferdinand Magellan 75 Elias Howe 102 Anne Of Cleves 129 Johannes Gutenberg
22 Daniel Webster 49 Ponce De Leon 76 Louis Pasteur 103 Duke Of Windsor 130 Victor Herbert
23 James A.M. Whistler 50 Admiral Byrd 77 William Penn 104 Queen Elizabeth II 131 Henry Hudson
24 Phineas T. Barnum 51 C. Columbus 78 Thomas Paine 105 Leonardo Da Vinci 132 Henry VIII
25 George Eastman 52 Balboa 79 Edgar Allen Poe 106 Machiavelli 133 Joan Of Arc
26 Geo. Wash. Carver 53 Kit Carson 80 Will Rogers 107 George C. Marshall 134 Lafayette
27 Luther Burbank 54 Buffalo Bill 81 Sir Walter Raleigh 108 Michelangelo 135 Dolly Madison

6

“Ruth made a
grave mistake
when he gave
up pitching.
Working once
a week, he might
have lasted
a long time
and become
a great star.”

TRIS SPEAKER IN 1921

7

Ol’
Ball Game

1921-30 MAJOR LEAGUE BALL DIE-CUTS | VARIOUS CHICAGO CUBS

8

9

Highs and lows 1962 POST CEREAL | BILL MAZEROSKI

Game 7 woes relived

BY BILL PINELLA bottom of the ninth inning vs. the … and then the awful truth comes
Pirates in Pittsburgh. And natu- out.
When you try to recall rally, as a 13-year old, I couldn’t
the low points in your watch. First, he tells me he had worked
life, some are obvious, in Pittsburgh!
others not so much. Way too nervous.
I went out in the backyard to A definite red flag.
But I can pinpoint one: Oct. 13, shoot free throws and hope for the Second, he starts to unpack a
1960. best. That’s when I started hearing couple of boxes of his personal
car horns and train whistles ga- stuff. Some memorabilia from the
At the time (not now), I was lore, and I knew then that some- Dapper Dan banquet, a charita-
a huge New York Yankees fan. thing dreadful had happened. ble event he helped coordinate in
And I really, really, really disliked Oh, yes. The Pirates’ Bill Maze- Pittsburgh.
everything about the Pittsburgh roski had homered and the Pirates A red flag for my other hand.
Pirates. Clemente and his basket won the Series in walk-off fashion. Finally, and this is where I
catches; announcer Bob Prince; A low-point in my lifetime. should have drawn the line. Out
and the “Green Weenie” to name So, we fast forward 45 years. of the box, Jim pulls a Mazeroski
a few. I’m working in Santa Rosa, Calif. bobble-head.
when the newspaper decides to “Oh, yes, we are good friends,”
And that was in direct con- bring in a new sports editor. Jim proclaims.
trast to just about everyone in my We will share a rather small My worst nightmare came back
home town. office. to haunt me! I just guess “The
Turns out Jim, the new guy on Curse of Mazeroski” will never
Mickey Mantle was my hero, the block, is a great guy, slightly leave me...
Yogi Berra was an impish charac- younger than myself, very affable,
ter and lovable, even relief pitcher good newsman, good communi- BILL PINELLA IS A FREELANCE
Ryan Duran, with his coke-bottle cator, very knowledgeable regard- WRITER AND FORMER SPORTS
thick glasses and blazing fastball ing sports, had worked at ESPN
was a treat to watch. EDITOR OF THE SANTA ROSA
(CALIF.) PRESS DEMOCRAT AND
So, we got to Game 7 of the
1960 World Series, tied 9-9 in the SAN DIEGO EVENING TRIBUNE

10

Poor Old Pete

1964, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1976 TOPPS | PETE ROSE

11

Goody for Goudey

1933 GOUDEY | HERB PENNOCK, FRANK (LEFTY) O’DOUL,
MARK KOENIG, FRED LINDSTROM

12

1 11

P I R AT E S BREWERS DODGERS
BILLY MAYER BUD SELIG PEE WEE REESE

1 1 1

RED SOX REDS PHILLIES
BOBBY DOERR FRED HUTCHINSON RICHIE ASHBURN

1 1 Retired
jerseys
CARDINALS YA N K E E S
OZZIE SMITH BILLY MARTIN IN RECOGNITION
OF OUR FIRST
ISSUE, HERE’S A
LIST OF RETIRED
NO. 1’S BY TEAM

13

pofc Domino
Disc
POOR OLD
FOOTBALL CARDS 1909-12 PX7
SWEET CAPORAL
1958 TOPPS
BART STARR DOMINO DISCS

FROM THE BACK HOOKS WILTSE
OF THE CARD:

For a comparative newcomer
to pro ball, Starr is proving to be
one of its surest passers. He ranked
ninth in the league in ’57 and one
of his heaves was a 77-yarder for a
touchdown. Opposing players are
impressed by his coolness.

When it was all said and done,
Starr was a two-time Super Bowl
MVP, a five-time NFL champion
and a Hall of Famer.

POBC

14

Felt it SAM AGNEW WAS
BABE RUTH’S
1914 B14 BLANKET BATTERY MATE
DURING HIS
SAM AGNEW 2 WINS IN THE
(RED BASES) 1918 WORLD
SERIES

Separated at Birth

1971 TOPPS | HOYT WILHELM & THE CAPTAIN

15

pobc
VISIT US ONLINE AT
POOROLDBASEBALLCARDS.COM